The Night Shift: Day's End

The Night Shift is the on-set diary of Fighting Owl Film's new independent supernatural-adventure-comedy of the same name currently in pre-production in Mobile, AL. Over the course of the next several weeks and months, you'll get an insider's peek at what it's like for filmmakers to craft a new entry of paranormal pop culture from Erin Lilley, a producer and actress on the film.

Day's End

Hoorah! We have reached the magical halfway point! We're finished with day shoots and the first month of filming. I won't say everything has gone smoothly - because it isn't nice to lie - but I will say that the footage looks pretty darn good, and we're mostly on schedule.

That's what's most important, really. Well, that and sanity, but I gave up on keeping my sanity weeks ago.

I say we're mostly on schedule because our final night shoot of May was rained out. It's already been rescheduled, but it was more than a little annoying to have everyone in costumes and makeup, the lights set up, the crew ready to go and an unexpected deluge suddenly settle in for the night. I checked the local weather, the national weather and the farmer's almanac. Not one said anything about a storm. Scattered showers in the afternoon? Yes. Thunderstorms at eight at night? Ummm ... no. Oh, well. That's showbiz, I guess.

We're letting the cast and crew have a short break between the May and June shoots. This gives Thomas time
to work on the footage we've already shot, and everyone a chance to decompress and recover from the heat we've been dealing with lately. I've taken it as an opportunity to organize the props/costumes/set pieces/etc., and dispose of what we've finished using.

The crypt set is no more. It's been disassembled, and the parts that weren't thrown out were given away. I have a box of props ready to donate back to the thrift store from which they came, and if you're interested in a unique halloween costume, I suggest you check ebay in the coming weeks for official The Night Shift zombie-wear. Our first listing is just about ready to go.

I'm also thrilled to finally have my car somewhat cleaned out. For a while now, I've been driving around town with a steamer chest full of weapons in my backseat, and a decomposed body in the trunk. I've all but dared the police to pull me over. It'd be easy enough to explain, once they saw that the body was a plastic robot in a Hawaiian shirt, but the initial reaction would be almost be worth the price of a speeding ticket. Almost.

Shooting resumes today with our first big extras scene. Up until now, we've only had a couple of creatures to deal with at a time. The most we've ever had was five. I'm really interested to see how things work when we have eighteen creatures in full makeup. I won't be acting that night, so I'll do my best to take pictures. I make no promises, though. Chances are I'll be running around like a chicken with my head cut off, putting out fires.

Hopefully only figurative fires.

Until then, here's a shot of one of our principal zombies, Curly, with our hero, Rue. This is the only creature image to be released, as of now, and you saw it here first. That's how much I love you guys.

On a semi-related note, we just received word that the short version of The Night Shift will be screening at the 2010 Fright Night Film Fest in Louisville, KY, July 30-August 1. I'm not sure if Thomas and I will be there yet, but if you're in the area you should stop by and catch the movie. According to their site, Roger Corman will be in attendance to accept a lifetime achievement award (awesome company for us to keep to say the very least). There are a lot of fan favorites scheduled to appear, and it looks like it's shaping up to be a really fun weekend.

Next week: Zombie Hijinks! Until then, you can follow Fighting Owl Films on Facebook or by going to the official movie site, www.thenightshiftmovie.com. You can keep up with the movie's progress on Twitter at @NightShiftMovie.